Project was part of 2013 deal with California Coastal Commission

Share this:

The California Coastal Commission on Thursday Dec. 13, 2018 made public a new mobile phone app, called YourCoast, and website with more than 1,500 beach locations to help the public find beaches, trails and parking along the coast. (California Coastal Commission)

Five years ago, Facebook billionaire Sean Parker held an extravagant wedding in Big Sur, after which he agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle violations of California’s coastal laws because his crews built rock walls, a stone bridge, a cottage, dance floor and other structures in a sensitive redwood forest — without permits.

As part of the settlement, he also agreed to help create a new mobile phone app so that anyone wanting to visit the coast in California could easily find public beaches, trails and parking.

“This is a case of turning lemons into lemonade,” said Lisa Haage, the California Coastal Commission’s chief of enforcement. “We literally ended up working with some of the world’s best tech engineers to create something that everyone can use and enjoy.”

Currently, the app only works on Apple iPhones. For owners of other phones, the information is on a Coastal Commission website, at www.yourcoast.org

The new app pinpoints the locations of 1,563 public beaches, including places in Malibu that wealthy property owners have worked over the years to keep secret or dissuade the public from visiting.

“It’s great. I downloaded it,” said Jennifer Savage, California policy manager with the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental group. “I love that it makes it so easy for people see what beaches are near them, along with information about how to get there and parking. It reinforces people’s sense that he coast belongs to them. A lot of times you might not see the access ways or know if something is public or private. The app arms people with more information and confidence.”

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 10: Tech billionaire Sean Parker (L) and his wife Alexandra Lenas attend the World Premiere of “Downloaded” during the 2013 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival at Paramount Theatre on March 10, 2013 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for SXSW)

The new app provides directions, photos and information about restrooms, parking, disabled access, dog rules and other issues, including locations of campgrounds and surfing spots.

Users can upload photos of beaches and share locations on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

Parker, 39, is the founder of Napster, the former music file-sharing company, and was former president of Facebook, having helped build the company in its early days with now-CEO Mark Zuckerberg. His net worth is estimated at $2.7 billion by Forbes magazine.

Parker married singer-songwriter Alexandra Lenas, in June 2013 at a campground along Highway 1 in Big Sur owned by the Ventana Inn, an adjacent luxury hotel.

The couple held a wedding with a Lord of the Rings theme that featured hundreds of guests, including California Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and others. But the event ran afoul of the coastal commission, the state agency that regulates development along the coast.

Parker paid to tear out the structures installed for his wedding and to restore the campground forest. During the investigation, however, the commission found that the Ventana Inn also was in violation of its original building permit, which required it to keep the campground open to the public. The Inn’s owners, who had closed the campground multiple times over several years, faced $1.5 million in penalties from the commission. They told Parker than unless he paid their penalties, they would cancel his wedding.

He paid, and agreed to pay other penalties, with the entire settlement totaling $2.5 million. Much of the money was used to build public trails in Big Sur, along with other public projects along the coast.

“We were kicking around ideas,” Haage said of the settlement talks with Parker. “We wanted to do something more creative than just upping the amount of money. He had a unique ability to provide and facilitate something like an app development. He’s one of the world leaders in tech. He was excited about it and we were excited about it.”

Parker, who lives in Los Angeles, is now an investor and philanthropist. In 2015, he donated $600 million to launch the Parker Foundation to fund science, global health and civic engagement projects. In 2016, the foundation announced a $250 million grant to establish the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, a San Francisco-based research center working to find a cure for cancer.

Paul Rogers has covered a wide range of issues for The Mercury News since 1989, including water, oceans, energy, logging, parks, endangered species, toxics and climate change. He also works as managing editor of the Science team at KQED, the PBS and NPR station in San Francisco, and has taught science writing at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz.